Safety device for small arms

ABSTRACT

A safety device for small arms, which comprises a safety lever and a trigger device connected with the safety device. The safety lever is pivotally mounted on the underside of the small arms directly in front of the trigger device crosswise to the operation plane of the latter. The safety lever includes a part differently limiting the movement range of the trigger device depending upon the position of the safety lever, whereby the function positions of the safety lever are disposed symmetrically on both sides thereto, starting from the vertical median plane of the small arms.

United States Patent Seifried 1 51 Jan. 30, 1973 [54] SAFETY DEVICE FORSMALL ARMS FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Inventor: Paul Seifried,Badenweiller, 1,180 1/1886 Great Britain ..42/70 E many [73] Assignee:Rheinmetall GmbH, Dusseldorf, Primary Examiner-Benjamin Borchelt GermanyAssistant ExaminerC. T. Jordan Filed: March 1971 Att0rneyErnest G.Montague [21] Appl. No.: 123,183 [57] ABSTRACT I 0 A safety device forsmall arms, which comprises a Foreign pp Priority Data safety lever anda trigger device connected with the March 21, 1970 Germany ..P 20 13766.0 Safety device The Safety lever is Pivotally mounted on theunderside of the small arms directly in front of the [52] US. Cl...42/70 E, 89/142 trigger device crosswise to the operation plane of the[51 Int. Cl. ..F4lc 17/02 latter. The safety lever includes a partdifferently [58] Field of Search ..42/7O E; 89/142, l48 limiting themovement range of the trigger device depending upon the position of thesafety lever, whereby References C'ted the function positions of thesafety lever are disposed UNITED STATES PATENTS symmetrically on bothsides thereto, starting from the vertical median plane of the smallarms. 2,379,946 7/1945 Baker ..42/-7O E 2,635,380 4/1953 Baker et a]..42/70 E 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Zbiii 1 PATENIEQammen 3 713 2SHEET 1 OF 2 msugm SAFETY DEVICE FOR SMALL ARMS The present inventionrelates to a safety device for small arms with a safety lever connectedwith trigger device.

Safety devices for automatic small arms are known, the safety lever ofwhich is displaceable and rotatable, respectively, in different restingpositions, however, disadvantageously only on one side of the arms. Bythis arrangement such lever is suitable for operation either by thefingers of the right hand and/or of the left hand. In the rifle known asG3, for example, the safety lever is disposed on the left side of thearms. The operation of the safety lever takes place in case ofright-handed rifle men by means of the fingers of the left as well as ofthe right hand. In case of left-handed rifle men, the handling is foundvery complicated, since the rifle man must grip over in view of the lefttrigger with the right hand over the arms. In order to indicate toleft-handed rifle men at least in a simple manner in which functionposition the safety lever is disposed, a bolt is secured to this lever,which is passed through the housing and at its end provided on the rightside of the housing is a marker which indicates the prevailing functionposition of the lever.

Furthermore, safety devices are also known, which are formed as devicesdisplaceable through the arms housing perpendicularly to the arms axis.By this arrangement the individual resting positions are obtained by thedisplacement by example of a bolt. These safety devices offer, however,no absolute safety, since this bolt is displaceably already in case of acomparatively easy hit on one of its outer sides from its set functionposition. Furthermore, this device must be operated alternately on theleft and the right arms side.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a safety device forautomatic arms, which selectively can be operated by a right-handedperson or a left-handed person equally easily and each of whichindicates immediately the present function position of a rifle equippedwith this device. Furthermore this device is to be provided in aprotective position and must be favorably produced as to its costs.

It is another object of the present invention, to provide a safetydevice for small arms, wherein the safety lever is pivotably mounted onthe bottom of the arms directly in front of the trigger crosswise to itsoperation plane and has a part differently limiting the movement rangeof the trigger depending upon the position of the safety lever, wherebythe function positions of the safety lever, starting from the verticalcenter plane of the arms, are symmetrically arranged on both sidesthereof. By this arrangement in front of the trigger guard, the safetylever is provided in a protected position easily reachable by the rifleman. From the symmetrical arrangement on both sides of the functionposition results for left as well as for right-handed rifle men anequally simple manipulation of the safety lever. In small arms formilitary purposes e'ach rifle man trained with this firearm canascertain even at night and without any difficulty and in case of anexchanged rifle by sensing of the safety lever, in which functionposition the latter is disposed.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention the partlimiting the movement range of the trigger comprises a disk rotatablymounted on the arms on the bottom side of the arms housing perpendicularto the longitudinal direction of the firearm, on the end face of whichpointing towards the firearm housing close to the outer diameter, arecess is formed coordinated to each function position, of which amedian recess, by example, corresponding with the function position forfiring is disposed symmetrically opposite the safety lever, while therecesses, for example, for function positions safe and undercircumstances other function positions in relation to the median recessare symmetrically disposed from both sides, thereto, whereby therecesses corresponding to the different function positions havedifferent depths and cooperate with a lever connected with the trigger.

Furthermore in accordance with the present invention in the above statedembodiment another function position of the safety lever is determinedby the height of the disk.

In a further embodiment, the part limiting the movement range of thetrigger comprises, in accordance with the present invention, a diskshaped segment rotatably mounted parallel to the longitudinal axis ofthe firearm in the firearm housing, which segment is, corresponding tothe prevailing function position, equipped with abutments, the median ofwhich, for example, the abutment corresponding by example with thefunction position firing" is disposed in the direction of the safetylever while the abutments, by example, for the function positions safeunder the circumstances further functions in relation to the medianabutment are from both sides symmetrically provided, whereby theabutments corresponding with the different function positions havedifferent distances from the rotary point of the disk shaped segment andcooperate with the lever rigidly connected to the trigger.

In the shown safety devices an easy handling and space saving structureis brought about, which is desirable particularly in small arms formilitary purposes. The pivoting range of the trigger lever is limiteddirectly, so that functional disturbances can be excluded to a greatextent. By the use of this relatively simple safety device, a favorablesolution is created thereby as to costs.

In accordance with a further feature of the present invention the partlimiting the movement range of the trigger a resting recess, coordinatedto each function position, which recesses cooperate with the restingdevice disclosed in the firearm housing. Thus it is simplified for therifle man by the resting of the resting position in the resting recessthe setting of the prevailing function position, since a furthermovement over a resting position is connected with an additional force.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description the present invention which is shown byexample only, will be clearly understood in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a safety lever pivotably provided on the bottom side of thefirearm in direct connection with the trigger mechanism, which is notshown;

FIG. 2 is a perspective showing of a safety lever in accordance withFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of FIG. 1 in the arrow direction;

FIG. 4 is a safety lever perpendicular to the trigger and pivotable inthe arms housing in direct connection with the trigger mechanism, whichis not shown; and

FIG. is a perspective view of the safety lever shown in FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses a section of an armshousing 1, in which a trigger 2 is pivotable about an axis 3 and wherebythe trigger 2 is arranged within a trigger guard 4 secured to the armshousing 1. The trigger 2 is equipped with a stay 2a, which effects atrigger device (not shown). A safety lever 5 is pivotably disposed onthe bottom side of the arms in front of the trigger guard 4 as a disk 5bequipped with a handle 5a. On the periphery of the disk 5b are providedrecesses 5c and 5d, and one of the recesses 5c is disposed diametricallyopposite the handle 5a, while two additional recesses 5d are arranged onboth sides of the recess 5c and symmetrically thereto at about 45 andpointing towards the inside of the arm. (For clarification the visibleof the recesses 5d is turned in FIG. 1 in the plane of the drawing).Likewise on the end face of the disk 5b (FIG. 2) pointing to the armshousing 1 are provided resting recesses 52, f, g, (FIG. 2) correspondingwith the recesses 5c and 5d, and additionally thereto are arranged atabout 90 to the handle 5, and a resting device 6 (FIG. 1) is providedwhich is springbiased cooperating with the resting recesses in the disc5b. The resting recesses 5e,f, g are coordinated to the respectivefunction positions in the order of permanent firing," individual firing,safe. A lever 2b is provided on the trigger 2 at a right angle in thedirection towards the safety lever 5, which lever 2b presses the triggerover a spring 7, supporting itself in the arms housing 1, the trigger 2with its nose 2c up to the arms housing 1. The end of the lever 2b isarranged above the recess 50 of the safety lever 5.

Referring now again to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 3, abottom plan view of the arrangement disclosed in FIG. 1 is shown, in thearrow direction, whereby the arrangement, in accordance with the presentinvention, of the safety lever is visible in front of the trigger guard4, as well as the arrangement of the function positions D= permanentfiring," E= individual firing and S= safe.

The operation of this safety device is as follows:

FIG. 1 shows a function position permanent firing, in which the lever 2bof the trigger 2 is in resting position above the recess 5c of thesafety lever 5. The lever 2b of the trigger 2 is connected over the stay2a with a trigger device (not shown). During withdrawal of the trigger 2against the force of the spring 7 into the dotted position, the trigger2 is moved so far from its resting position, as the recess 5r: permitsin the pivotable safety lever 5. The resting device 6 of the armshousing 1 is disposed in the rest marking 5e of the safety lever 5.

During the pivoting of the safety lever 5 against the spring force ofthe resting device into the function position individual firing," one ofthe recesses 5d comes to lie below the lever 2b. The resting device 6operates now with the corresponding resting recess 5f. During awithdrawal of the trigger 2, the latter can only pivot corresponding tothe depth of the recess 5d, so that the path performed by the end of thelever 2b is shorter than in case of the function position permanentfiring. During a further pivoting of the safety lever 5 into thefunction position safe, the entire height of the disk-shaped safetylever 5 lies below the lever 2b of the trigger 2, so that the latter isblocked, while in this function position a resting device 6 engages intothe corresponding resting recess 53.

The next example shows, how in an arms housing 8 (FIG. 4) a trigger 9 ispivotably mounted about an axle 10 and is disposed within a triggerguard 11 arranged on the arms housing 8. The trigger 9 is equipped witha stay 9a, which is in connection with a trigger mechanism (not shown).A safety lever 12 is disposed in front of the trigger guard 11, whichsafety lever 12 comprises a disk-shaped segment 12a and is equipped witha handle 12b, and is pivotably mounted parallel to the longitudinal axisof the arms in the arms housing 8. The disk-shaped segment 12a isequipped on its side pointing towards the trigger 9 with abutments 12c,d and e, having different distances from the rotary point of the safetylever 12 (FIG. 5). A lever 9b is provided on the trigger 9 at a rightangle and in the direction towards the safety lever 12, which lever 9presses over a spring 13, supporting itself in the arms housing 8, thetrigger 9 with its nose up to the arms housing 8. The end of the lever9b is arranged over an abutment of the safety lever 12. Likewise,resting recesses 12f, g, and k are likewise arranged on the sidepointing towards the trigger 9 of the disk-shaped segment 12acorresponding with the abutments 120, d and e, and the function positionpermanent firing, individual firing and safe, respectively, of which theresting recess 12f is in engagement with a resting device 14 disposed inthe arms housing 8.

The operation of this safety device is described as follows:

FIG. 4 shows a safety device in the function position permanent firing."The lever 9b of the trigger 9 is disposed above the abutment 12c andpermits upon operation of the trigger 9 a pivoting upwardly. The restingdevice 14 rests in the resting recesses 12f of the safety lever 12.After the pivoting of the safety lever 12 in the function positionindividual firing," the abutment 12d of the safety lever 12 is arrangedbelow the lever 9b and limits the pivoting range of the latter. Theresting device 14 cooperates together with the resting recess 12g. Aftera further pivoting of the safety lever 12 with the function positionsafe, the abutment 12e is so close below lever 9b, that the trigger 9can no more be operated. This function position is fixed by the restingdevice 14 entering the resting recess 12k.

While I have disclosed several embodiments of the present invention, itis to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only andnot in a limiting sense.

lclaim:

l. A safety device for small arms, comprising a safety lever,

a trigger device connected with said safety device,

said safety lever being pivotably mounted on the underside of said smallarms directly in front of said trigger device crosswise to the operationplane of the latter, and

said safety lever including a part differently limiting the movementrange of said trigger device depending upon the position of said safetylever, whereby the function positions of said safety lever beingdisposed symmetrically on both sides thereto, starting from the verticalmedian plane of said small arms.

2. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said partcomprises a disc connected with said safety lever and rotatably mountedon the bottom side of an arms housing perpendicularly to thelongitudinal direction of said arms,

said disc having an end face pointing to said arms housing,

said end face including a recess adjacent the outer diameter coordinatedto each of the function positions,

said recesses including a median recess corresponding with the functionposition firing and being disposed diametrically opposite of a handle ofsaid safety lever,

said recesses including that for the function position safe is disposedon both sides of and symmetrically to said median recess, and

said recesses corresponding with said different function positions havedifferent depth and cooperate with a lever rigidly connected with saidtrigger device.

3. The safety device, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said disc has aheight determining another function position of said safety lever.

4. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said partcomprises a disc-shaped segment rotatably mounted in an arms housingparallel to the longitu dinal axis of said arms,

said part includes abutments corresponding with a related functionposition,

a median of said abutments corresponding with the function positionfiring is disposed in the direction of a handle of said safety lever,

said abutments including that for the function position safe is disposedon both sides of and symmetrically to said median of said abutments,

said abutments corresponding with the different function positions havedifferent distances from the rotary point of said segment, and cooperatewith a lever connected with said trigger device.

5. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said part has aresting recess coordinated to each of said function positions, and

a resting device disposed in an arms housing and cooperating with saidresting recesses.

1. A safety device for small arms, comprising a safety lever, a triggerdevice connected with said safety device, said safety lever beingpivotably mounted on the underside of said small arms directly in frontof said trigger device crosswise to the operation plane of the latter,and said safety lever including a part differently limiting the movementrange of said trigger device depending upon the position of said safetylever, whereby the function positions of said safety lever beingdisposed symmetrically on both sides thereto, starting from the verticalmedian plane of said small arms.
 1. A safety device for small arms,comprising a safety lever, a trigger device connected with said safetydevice, said safety lever being pivotably mounted on the underside ofsaid small arms directly in front of said trigger device crosswise tothe operation plane of the latter, and said safety lever including apart differently limiting the movement range of said trigger devicedepending upon the position of said safety lever, whereby the functionpositions of said safety lever being disposed symmetrically on bothsides thereto, starting from the vertical median plane of said smallarms.
 2. The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said partcomprises a disc connected with said safety lever and rotatably mountedon the bottom side of an arms housing perpendicularly to thelongitudinal direction of said arms, said disc having an end facepointing to said arms housing, said end face including a recess adjacentthe outer diameter coordinated to each of the function positions, saidrecesses including a median recess corresponding with the functionposition ''''firing'''' and being disposed diametrically opposite of ahandle of said safety lever, said recesses including that for thefunction position ''''safe'''' is disposed on both sides of andsymmetrically to said median recess, and said recesses correspondingwith said different function positions have different depth andcooperate with a lever rigidly connected with said trigger device. 3.The safety device, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said disc has aheight determining another function position of said safety lever. 4.The safety device, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said part comprisesa disc-shaped segment rotatably mounted in an arms housing parallel tothe longitudinal axis of said arms, said part includes abutmentscorresponding with a related function position, a median of saidabutments corresponding with the function position ''''firing'''' isdisposed in the direction of a handle of said safety lever, saidabutments including that for the function position ''''safe'''' isdisposed on both sides of and symmetrically to said median of saidabutments, said abutments corresponding with the different functionpositions have different distances from the rotary point of saidsegment, and cooperate with a lever connected with said trigger device.